Patent Law

The White House has announced the nomination of Edward (Ed) DuMont to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to replace Chief Judge Paul Michel who will be retiring May 31, 2010. The Senate must confirm the nomination along with the still-pending nomination of Judge O'Malley.

DuMont is a partner at WilmerHale and is an appellate specialist. He previously spent close to ten years at the Department of Justice primarily in the office of the Solicitor General and also worked in corporate transactions at Sullivan & Cromwell.

DuMont clerked for Judge Richard Posner on the Seventh Circuit in Chicago in the mid-1980's and also spent a year in working as a lawyer at a firm in Thailand. DuMont holds a BA (history) from Yale and a JD from Stanford. He is originally from Northern California, but has worked on the East Coast for the past twenty years.

DuMont has worked on several patent appeals, often alongside former US Solicitor General Seth Waxman. Recent patent appeals including Tivo v. Echostar, Princo v. ITC (pending en banc rehearing), Airgo IP v. ArvinMeritor, Agfa Corp. v. Creo Prods., Purdue v. Endo, US Philips v. ITC.

The Federal Circuit courthouse at 717 Madison Place is less than a half-mile walk from DuMont's current office on Pennsylvania Avenue.

Although filling Chief Judge Michel's spot, Mr. DuMont would not automatically become the next Chief Judge. Rather, that position will move to Judge Rader who is the next most-senior active judge who has not yet reached the age of 65.